Library nabs $350K grant for expansion



The Champlin Foundation has awarded $350,000 to the library board of trustees for its proposed upgrades to the North Road building.

“They have been very generous,” said Gene Mihaly, chairman of the trustees.

This is the second grant given to the library by the foundation following a $400,000 award last year. The grant brings the revenue tally to $3.83 million for the project, which was estimated in March to cost $3.85 million. Those numbers, however, are moving targets.

According to Mihaly, there are three X factors that make him want to raise more than $3.85 million.

The first is the rising cost of construction. The bids for the golf clubhouse in 2019 and the fire station in 2018, for example, came in 21 percent and 14 percent, respectively, lower than the actual costs. He is worried the project could cost more than $3.85 million when bids are opened.

The second factor comes from the state Office of Library & Information Services. The bond referendum passed in November authorizes the library to borrow $1.5 million, which is counted toward the $3.83 million total. The state is expected to cover that portion of the project, but OLIS has not committed to a number.

“We don’t know how much they are going to support us,” Mihaly said. “It could be $1.2 million. That’s an unknown. We’ve been pushing them to give us a number, but so far, they haven’t done that.”

The third factor is a municipal regulation that precludes the trustees from having their architectural team add a formal contingency to the estimate, Mihaly said.

With these unknown costs, the trustees are awaiting word on two pending $450,000 grants that could cover those possible shortfalls. That includes an application submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which Mihaly said was recommended by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Jamestown resident who has been an advocate for the project. Mihaly said he preferred not to divulge the second potential grantor, but called it “a local organization.”

“It’d be great if we could win another $900,000 in grants,” library trustee Ed Gromada said, “but that’s well beyond expectations.”

Along with $750,000 from Champlin and the $1.5 million bond passed in November by 77 percent of the voters, the $3.83 million also is being subsidized by a $1 million bond passed by 71 percent of the voters in 2018. The trustees also have $440,000 collected from private donors and $150,000 in a capital account for the project.

Because of the three unknowns and the pending grants, Mihaly is reminding residents there still is a need for money. The library has launched a campaign to raise $50,000 from the community. While he is optimistic about raising enough to get the project done, Mihaly said there is a backup plan.

“We’ll simply shrink the project,” he said.

According to the plan supported by the town council, the work, along with replacing the roof and upgrading the mechanical systems, includes moving the areas for children and teenagers, respectively, to the north and south sides of the building along the westernmost wall parallel with North Road.

Both of these areas would be expanded with 562-foot alcoves. A reading room for adults and space for the local history collection would be moved to the current children’s room directly south of the main vestibule. A walkway for deliveries would wrap around the main auditorium from the parking lot to the former museum.

The original design also included a pergola over that delivery walkway and an elevator from the basement to the main floor. Both have been scrapped, according to librarian Donna Fogarty. The elevator has been replaced with a dumbwaiter.